Monthly Archives: April 2016

With the sun now rising the British pushed on into Fontenay supported by fresh forces and heavier armour. The clock was ticking so they needed to move on.

The German defenders were better prepared, alerted by the fight on the outskirts.

The British forces pushed into the table, setting up fire positions for their machine gun.

Incoming! The first German mortar round fell and took out the been carrier. First blood to the Germans.

The British pushed on with the Germans taking up defensive positions. Infantry inched forward trying to hold cover and avoid attracting German fire. A Sherman rolled slowly up the flank whilst an AEC armoured car pushed along the road.

The German mortar began hitting allied positions with incredible accuracy, the HE rounds inflicting horrible damage. An ambush was sprung and the advancing British were hit by machine guns and rifles, sending the remaining troops scurrying for cover.

The allies advance stalled as the German positions started to fire on the troops. Even the British sniper was struggling to keep his head up long enough to find a target.

Finally some luck for the British. The Sherman and AEC managed to catch a Puma in the open. Two rounds later the Puma was ablaze and abandoned. Could the British make their advantage with armour count?

Not if the German panzerfausts had their way!

The Sherman pushed forward but its fire into the church was ineffective. The Germans were not as forgiving and left the Sherman a burning wreck.

In the middle of table the weight of allied troops finally told against the veteran defenders, but even taking the farm house proved costly, and the British were not able to finally clear the farm.

The allied mortars finally found their target and with both sides exhausted, the fighting began to die down.

We ended with no clear victor, though the Germans probably had the best of it. The central farm house remained contested but neither side had enough to force a decisive victory.

The choices for the Germans is either to reinforce their position, fall back to their next line or counter attack.

The allies need to either take the table with a fresh push or fall back to their previous position and consolidate. Not sure what the British commanders would make of that last option!

We’ve started a Bolt Action campaign based on the Operation Martlet scenario book from Two Fat Lardies.

As ever the TFL source books are excellent value. A bit of hacking for BA but otherwise good stuff.

This is a ladder campaign so we’ll move back and forth depending on how it all goes.

Here’s the battle report for game 1.

Game 1.

The sun was yet to rise and the fog hung heavy on the farmland outside the outskirts of Fontenay. The German positions were manned by an under-strength force, still sleepy from the nights watch. Envious of their colleagues a few 100 yards back and in warm beds the disgruntled sentries kept a bleary eyed watch.

At just past 5am the sentries were preparing to move off for a well earned sleep. Packing up their positions a young soldier started to hear a distant noise. Could that be movement in the fog?

The British were advancing!

The first opening moves saw the British push through the fields and orchard to the flanks of the farm seeking to stay away from the open lines of fire. The German defenders pushed forward to their defensive lines and hoped that the relief watch was on its way!

The two forces made contact with shots fired from both sides as they tested each others lines. The fearsome PAK40 proved to be manned by crew still suffering from a long night and unable to make out clear targets in the fog.

The British recon units hugged the cover and pushed forward harried by rifle and machine gun fire but taking few casualties.

On the German side confusion was the order of the day as the allies seemed to rise up in the fog on all fronts. On the left flank the German line broke in disorder as instructions were misunderstood.

Thankfully the relief forces began to arrive – could they get into position and tip the balance?

On the allied left flank the US contingent pushed up to and then past the farm house, giving a bloody nose to the defenders. The scout car in the lead didn’t stop to consolidate and drew fire from panzerfausts. Luckily the fog continued to cause problems as shots went wildly overhead.

On the right flank the Germans finally managed to get effective fire – against their own lines. In the dark and fog the friendly fire incident demoralised the German defenders who began to fall back to take up positions in their second defensive line.

The scout car on the allied left flank took the opportunity to push rapidly forward and broke through the final line. The Germans had no choice but to fall back.

All in all this was a challenging game for the Germans. They were under strength in the early rounds and struggled with botched orders that disrupted their line. Poor shots from the PAK and AT infantry weapons were countered by some highly accurate British rifle shots.

The fog kept things sketchy with shooting tougher than usual.

Outcome – The Germans fall back to their next position. The Allies push on and continue their move through Fontenay towards the main German defences.

Just a quick summary of the action at the club this week. Quite a mixed bag. Horror boardgame action with Kingdom Death (the clue’s in the name), Bolt action in the deserts of North Africa, Steampunk conflict in Warmachine, Wizards battling it out in the ruins of Frostgrave and Napoleonic conflict, somewhere in the 19th Century.